Small boat liveaboards

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nathanlee

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Do you live on a boat less than 26feet?

I'm interested in your experiences. What you do for heating and power, and generally how you cope. I live on a 21footer, which is cramped, and I rely on shore "assistance" an awful lot, but would like to see how far I could push it. I wintered on the boat last year, but was in the middle of London. This year I may well be in Scotland, so am planning for the worst, just in case.

I also have a mild idea of a book about the subject, but it's just an idea at the moment. I'd like to know if there are others out there with similar lives. It seems all literature is geared towards living on large boats funded by retirement funds or house sales, but I think there's a need for something to cater for the younger, less well funded freedom seeker.
 
I, for one, would be interested to read your book. We started cruising on a 21 footer and cruised far and wide before the children came along. Then we cruised a 24 footer which was huge by comparison! I admire your spirit.
 
Well, of course I had to reply to this one Nathan :p

The torture involved in living aboard sub 26footers is in my opinion some bizarre English thing. I've sailed half way around the world, and no one likes a tiny, uncomfortable, and overly expensive boat more than an Englishmen. Am I jaded? Spent too much time in the USA where it's a dinghy if under 30ft? Maybe.

I think you should write a book on why NOT to live on a sub 26ft boat :)

But seriously, I think the key is tidiness (of which I am the worst offender), a place you can sleep on your side with knees bent (two years in a Contessa 26 in the quarter berths, I always take great pleasure in a semi-fetal position whenever I have the opportunity!), and staying dry. Because the boat is so small, just bringing a wet jacket into the boat can instantly make the whole thing wet. I also think it's the little things that make such huge difference to small boat living - Comfortable cushions, some kind of retractable desk/table, and replace your books with an eBook reader to save space. The great thing about a small boat, is sailing and being at sea. But, get into port and it's a cramped nightmare.

To be honest though, one could be extraordinarily comfortable on a 28ft boat with standing headroom, double vberth, the ability to work in the galley without balancing chopping boards on your knees... Ample storage... I'm changing the 'go small go now' motto to 'go somewhat comfortable, go a week late' ...

As to how you get a 28ft boat. They give them away in the USA.

n
 
I have lived on a folkboat for a two year stretch about ten years ago. I contain myself now to two month summers.

I made a pretty poor choice for comfort based on fuzzy logic. I reasoned that 28 foot boat would need an inboard diesel engine which, along with spares and pipes and tankage would take up all the extra room compared to the smaller 26 foot Folkboat with an outboard leaving me with the same cabin space.

Wot a load of rubbish.

I love the sailing qualities of the folkboat but in harbour it is a misery.
 
I lived on a 15 footer for the best pat of a year and would say a boat should be big enough to entertain two more people otherwise you are constantly saying yes to kind invitations to dinner or tea with no ability to counter offer.I once had to refuse an invitation to dinner as Ihad already been invited,it would have been nice to be able to say no butdo come aboard for a tipple!!!
 
Small boat shennanigans

Had some friends, a couple, who lived on a Vivacity 20.


For three years.


They rounded Britain in that time.



Mind you, that was in the 1970’s, when men were men, and a Westerly Pageant was considered the epitome of luxury. Folks would dream of having central heating in their houses, let alone their boats. A computer required it’s own building and a team of boffins to run it. Hence on-board communications kit would probably consist of a couple of semaphore flags your grandad stole from the navy after the war, and a writing pad so’s you could get in touch with your mum at Christmas. If you wanted to talk to your mates you had to go to the pub. For the fabulously wealthy there might be battery powered RDF, which is sort of like a water divining rod, only for finding harbours.

Hence their power requirements would have been mainly some paraffin for the lamps, and a flick of the wrist for the depth sounder (bit of string with weight on the end). Heating was probably mainly each others’ bodies (aah! Young love!) supplemented by aformentioned paraffin lamps and some big hairy blankets (in those days bedding was considered insulation, rather than a style accessory).

After completing their circumnavigation they proceeded to have a baby and for a while continued to live on board with that, but obviously by this time tie-dye T shirts and colour TV had sapped the moral fibre of a generation and they wimped out and moved off, first of all to a 50ft wooden wreck, then a house, for goodness’ sake.

They obviously weren’t too scarred by the whole experience (or maybe they were?), as they later bought another Vivacity 20 for weekend sailing and for old times’ sake.

The moral of this story is minimise your power requirements, wear a condom, and try to end up somewhere warmer than Scotland in the winter.
 
Get cruising advice from abroad Nathan. The Brits are not real cruisers

Nathan look at this guy(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h167pT8u_Cg) and try and contact him. He looks very odd. But if you really want odd then look at the British cruiser abroad. Good at propping up the pub, very sociable,often helpful with tools, great with advice (mostly gleaned from PBO or YM but seldom from experience).Too often they are dead beats, seldom leaving the marina, yarning on about marina prices and complaining about the locals.They trek past local markets desperately seeking a Lidl shop.They fly home when it is too warm and impose themselves on there ageing parents or disinterested offspring as there homes are rented. They all arrive back when the weather cools and then find new excuses not to set sail.I met an English couple that motored their magnificent Hallberg Rassey all the way to Turkey and they still use it as a caravan like so many others. Germans know how to cruise and the French are excellent at small boat passage making. Small is more clever than ever now that cruisers are having to compete for expensive berth in competition with the ever increasing charter companies. Small means anchoring safely away from the incompetents charterers who anchor far too close having dumped far too short a length of chain in a pile beneath the bow.
 
Hi Nathan - love the blog btw.

We have a 22ft Jag. Don't live on it but spend at least one night a week on her. I guess it sort of depends how big you are. We are both quite small!! And being organised and minimal helps - towels double as a curtain to the V berth.

I think if it was just me on the boat I'd be fine living on her indefinitely - two could get a little annoying as when you are trying to do something it's impossible not to get in each others way.

Smaller space means less space to keep warm (bit like a house). I only need enough room to move about in - don't see the point in wasted cabins. I guess it also depends on the lifestyle you'd like. If you want to have lots of visitors on board regularly it might get a little cramped. Then there's the toilet issue - some guests might not feel comfortable going into a glorified potty behind a curtain.

My cabin is bigger than most tents I've spent time in (and I've spent time camping before) so there is always the outdoors to live in too. If your thinking is you only need space to lay your head then smaller than 26ft is fine.
 
My partner was living on a 23ft Westerley bilge keeler. Now on a 26ft catamaran. Year round in North Wales.
Hard going, but do able (I do 3-4 dauys a week).
Selina
 
Thanks for all the replies folks. It's good to hear that there are some other nutters out there. :)

A friend of mine lives on a 23 foot Leisure 23SL, she has bags of room. I mean you can stand up in her boat, and there's a separate cabin with an almost double bed, an inboard engine... it's just much better suited to living on. The Corribee, in contrast, is small for it's length. I think you'd struggle to find a 21footer with less room, but I don't know if I'd like to go to sea in anything else.

Any small boat liveaboard in Scotland? I might well pop in and say hello while I'm here.
 
Living in a small boat?
Sounds cool.
Just decided to join this forum for me to know how can people live in a small boat.
I have seen on TV this kind of living and I'm interested to experience that.
I'm interested on how you cope unto that?
Is it easy or difficult?
 
Ethan David said:
Living in a small boat?
Sounds cool.
Just decided to join this forum for me to know how can people live in a small boat.
I have seen on TV this kind of living and I'm interested to experience that.
I'm interested on how you cope unto that?
Is it easy or difficult?
Click to expand...

standing headroom is everything
 
small is relative

I'm on a NAB 35 ----- often get lost going to heads!!
Contrary to my original plans,I' m probably going to be on the Clyde this winter. Sailing at every opportunity in the best cruising ground in UK.
When you get round here,give me a shout!
 
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